Fred's Twelve Mistakes of Christmas Travel
by starrnobella
Summary: Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. A saga of going home for Christmas. COMPLETE - Sequel to Memories to be Made


**A/N:** Happy Christmas Eve everyone! Its time for some festive stories for my festive friends. This year articcat621, GaeilgeRua, SquarePeg72, thescarlettphoenixx, xxDustNight88 and I decided to write stories for one another and group them together in the Festive Friends collection found on AO3.

My fifth story for the collection was prompted by the lovely xxDustNight88. The prompt was: Christmas is Character A is very pregnant and finds out that Character B forgot to book them a hotel. Now it's Christmas Eve and they're in an unknown city with no place to stay. It's up to B to make it up to A before it's too late, or A goes into labor.

This story literally ran away from me, but I'm so happy with the way that it turned out. I thinks it's one of my favorites this year. Grammarly and La'Wanda helped me make this story what it is and I'm eternally grateful for them both!

I hope that xxDustNight88 enjoys this story and likes what I've done with her prompt as well as all of the other readers who happen to pick up this story.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Love always,  
~starr

* * *

"Fred Weasley, I swear to mystical Morgana; if you don't get your ass moving, I will call your mother and tell her we won't be at the Burrow for Christmas and that it's all your fault!" Felicity shouted down the hall as she gathered the last of the Christmas presents for the Weasley family Christmas celebration.

Fred realized he was running late-Mistake #1. Felicity's pregnancy had put an end to all magical forms of transportation during her third trimester, especially apparition. In fact, before Felicity found out she was pregnant, she thought that the morning sickness was just the residual side effects of all the apparating she and Fred had been doing to celebrate birthdays and weddings at the Burrow.

It wasn't until Molly commented about her glow that Felicity even thought pregnancy was a possibility. She had remembered her mother talking about the stages of pregnancy, and that was when Felicity made the connection-she could possibly be carrying a Weasley.

After about twenty minutes, Fred finally emerged from the bedroom, dragging a suitcase behind him with a smile on his face. Felicity noticed and shook her head.

"It took you long enough. Look outside," she grumbled, motioning towards the window. "It's started to snow, which means the roads are going to be treacherous, and it will take us longer to get to the Burrow."

"I thought we were using the floo? It'll take no time at all," Fred stated, motioning at the fireplace in the sitting room as he left the suitcase by the front door-Mistake #2.

"Uhm," Felicity replied, rubbing her hands around her swollen stomach as she raised a pointed brow. "Someone decided that it would be a good idea to knock me up, and that same someone knows it's against doctor's orders for me to use magical travel."

"Fine. Muggle transport it is, but I don't think I was alone in deciding to knock you up," Fred said with a wink, as he walked up to wrap his arms around Felicity's neck, pull her into his embrace, and place a gentle kiss on the top of her head. He glanced at the directions Felicity shoved into his chest and whined, "I promise, we'll get to the Burrow in one piece. Are you ready to go?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," she replied, forcing a smile as she felt a twinge of pain in her lower back. She rubbed a hand over her stomach and sighed. Motherhood would be worth all of the pregnancy pains, especially if the baby looked like a mini version of either one of them.

She pushed herself up off the couch and waddled her way from the living room to the front door. She reached over and grabbed her purse off the small table near the door, only to be stopped by her loving husband.

"That's too heavy; I'll get that," Fred insisted, grabbing her purse out of her hands, adding it to the pile he was already carrying, and leaving the directions on the end table-Mistake #3.

Felicity rolled her eyes. "If you are already carrying all that, how are you going to get out the door and to the car?"

"I'll use magic," Fred replied, smiling broadly as he nodded in the direction of the presents stacked on the floor. Within seconds, they rose and floated along behind him out the door and into the garage.

Felicity watched the floating bags. She bit her tongue as a response surfaced to her mind. While she was grateful that she didn't have to carry anything, she knew that they were fortunate to have an attached garage where none of her neighbors would be able to see the floating gifts and raise an alarm.

"I love you and your magic, but you know it can't be the answer for everything," she said, following him out to the garage. She walked over to her side of the car and got inside. She sighed, tilted her head back against the headrest, and closed her eyes. The second she got into the Burrow and put her feet up, she could relax and enjoy the holiday. With her due date fast approaching, she felt like she was running a mile a minute and still didn't have everything ready for the baby's arrival.

Rounding the back of the car, Fred started to load the presents into the trunk. He turned to pick up the remaining presents and realized that nothing else was going to fit in the trunk. He sighed and started removing the presents once more to find something else to take out. Once the trunk was empty, he spotted the spare tire. They weren't going to need that on the way to the Burrow-Mistake #4.

Since the odd Muggle directions made the trip seem like a straight shot, he made the decision to remove the spare, fill the space with their suitcases and bags, and load the trunk with the presents. Impressed by his own quick thinking, Fred slammed the trunk closed and made his way to the driver's side door.

Felicity heard the driver's side door open and close but didn't open her eyes. She smiled when she felt Fred kissed her lips. Sleepily, she asked, "You have the hospital bag, right? Just in case I go into labor while we're at the Burrow?" Fred thought for a moment, shrugged, and glibly responded, "I'm sure it's in the back somewhere"-Mistake #5. Felicity nodded her head and started to drift off into dreamland as they backed out of the garage and headed to the Burrow.

. . . . . . . . .

Felicity jolted awake as she felt the car jerked to a stop. Looking around, she realized that she had absolutely no idea where they were or how far from the Burrow they were. Slowly, she turned to look at her husband, who was staring down at the lights on the dashboard with a frantic look on his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked, leaning over to look at the dashboard of the car. The steering column blocked her sight of the warning lights on the dash, and she was too tired to pull the manual out of the dash compartment. "Why aren't we at the Burrow?"

Fred didn't respond; he just continued to stare at the dashboard of the car- "Road Hazard - Flat tire"-Mistake #6. He could not admit the problem to Felicity without also admitting to leaving the spare tire behind-a mistake that reminded him that they ended up on this road because he had no idea how to read Muggle maps or get to the Burrow using Muggle transportation-Mistake #7. Any time he had ever traveled to or from the Burrow, he apparated or used the Floo network. He knew what he had to do. He had to lie-Mistake #8.

"Fred," she insisted, tapping his shoulder and rolling her eyes in frustration. Reaching a hand over to his chin, Felicity turned his face to look at her. "Why aren't we going anywhere?"

"The car just stopped," he mumbled, staring at her with lost puppy dog eyes. He knew that wasn't exactly the truth, but it wasn't entirely false, either.

Felicity prepared to respond when suddenly there was a knock at the driver's side window. Fred turned to the window, and she leaned forward to see a police officer standing outside the door, tapping on the window with the end of a flashlight. Fred rolled down the window and smiled. "Hello, Officer."

"Hello, sir," the officer replied, looking in the window to assess the situation. "What seems to be the problem here?"

"According to my husband," Felicity chimed in, "the car stopped working. I just woke up from a nap."

"How far along are you?" he asked, gesturing towards her rounded belly and jotting something down on a notepad Felicity didn't recall seeing him acquire.

"I'm due any day now," Felicity replied, smiling boldly. "We're on our way to visit family for the holidays. I haven't had any indicators that I'm going into labor, but we've got the hospital bag just in case."

"Well, that's good to hear," the officer answered. "Unfortunately, your car has stopped working in the middle of the street, and it's a danger for people to pass. We need to attempt to get the car onto the side of the road before we call a tow truck to get you into town. I'd be happy to help."

Fred looked from the officer to Felicity, who smiled at him and nodded her head. He put the car into neutral and opened the door. The officer went to the back of the car and started to push as Fred pushed from the driver's side door. Felicity turned the wheel from the passenger seat despite the size of her stomach, stopping her from leaning too far forward.

After a few minutes, the car was safe, and the officer had given Fred some information about where they could get a room for the night.

When the officer rounded the passenger side of the car to check on Felicity, he noticed the real problem. He waved to Fred to come over and pointed down at the tire. "There's your big issue, and I'm guessing that driving on a near-flat tire caused some issues with the alignment and the axle. Grab your spare and jack. I can have you kids in town in no time."

"Thanks, Officer," Fred replied, sheepishly smiling at him, "but I think the spare tire is at home, unfortunately. I guess we'll be calling that tow truck."

"Alright then," the officer replied with a nod. "You folks have a good night and a Merry Christmas."

With a sigh, Fred climbed back into the car and kissed Felicity on the cheek. "You know if you would just let me use my magic, I could get us to the Burrow without the car," Fred mumbled, resting his head on hers. He felt her shake her head beneath his and laugh. "I know, I know. You can't apparate or travel through the floo while pregnant, but we probably should have told Mom that Christmas needed to be at our place this year."

"Where would we have put everyone? Our flat is barely going to be big enough for the three of us when the baby comes," Felicity countered, rubbing her hand in a circle over her stomach. "I'm hungry."

"Craving something specific?" he asked, kissing the top of her head.

"A burger and fries," she answered quickly. "But how will you get to town from here?"

"I'll just apparate there and back. I'm not the pregnant one. While I'm there, I'll make a reservation at one of the hotels so that we won't be sleeping in the car tonight."

Felicity thought about it for a second but then heard her stomach growl and felt the baby kick. "Just be careful." She turned to kiss him before he climbed out of the car. Wrapping the blanket he had pulled out of the trunk tightly around her body, Felicity settled down in the seat and waited for him to come back. She pulled her phone out of her coat pocket and sent a message to her sister-in-law, letting someone at the Burrow know what was going on.

. . . . . . . . .

Fred continued along the sidewalk of the small town he had learned to be called Mere. He was looking for the requested burger and fries, but all he could find was fish and chips on each restaurant's menu. Felicity probably wouldn't mind the change in food. He knew her cravings lately had been Americanized food, but she had grown accustomed to substituting it for whatever it was that Fred brought her to eat-Mistake #9.

He rounded the corner and discovered a restaurant called Golden Valley, which happened to be across the street from the George Inn. Once he ordered their food, he could pop over there and reserve a room. Then they could get back on the road in the morning right after a mechanic repaired the car-even sooner if he could put his magic to good use and fix the problem himself.

He smirked at the idea of a magical fix and nodded his head. They would arrive in Devon in their magically Muggle car. Still donning the smirk on his face, he walked into Golden Valley to place his order. The warmth of the restaurant felt good against his skin. The temperature outside was starting to fall, and the snow would soon begin once again.

Fred waited until the food was ready enjoying the warmth. Once the takeaway was in his hands, he walked back outside and headed to his previous landing spot. Ducking down an abandoned alley, he looked around to make sure there was no one around him and then disappeared into thin air, having forgotten all about reserving a room at the George Inn-Mistake #10.

A moment later, he and the Chinese takeaway landed on the ground just ahead of his car. He could see Felicity looking at him and shaking her head. She opened the door and climbed out of the vehicle. She walked over to him and extended her hand.

Begrudgingly, Fred handed her the bag of food and took the other hand that was soon offered to him as she helped him up off the ground. Once he was standing, he took the food back from her and walked over to the hood of the car. He placed the bag on the middle of the hood and started pulling the different boxes out.

"That doesn't smell like burgers," Felicity said, sniffing the box that he handed her. "It smells like Sweet and Sour Chicken."

"I know you had your heart set on burgers, but the only place I could find that was open was a Chinese takeaway place. I hope that's okay," Fred replied, smiling at her as he watched her open the box of food and took a whiff of the delightful aroma of the food inside.

"I suppose it's okay," Felicity hummed, poking around at the food in the box with a pair of chopsticks. "Just means you owe me a burger and fries the next time we get takeaway."

"You know they're called chips here, right?" Fred teased, tossing his head back with a laugh.

Felicity rolled her eyes and popped a piece of chicken into her mouth. She shook her head as she leaned up against the hood of the car. This wasn't how she had anticipated spending Christmas Eve, but it wasn't the worst thing in the world. At least she was with the love of her life, and they had food. Soon the tow truck would be here to take them into the town, and she could curl up in bed at the hotel room had booked for them for the night.

"So, what's the name of the hotel that we are staying at tonight?" Felicity asked, digging around in her box of food without looking up. She heard Fred choking, which caused her to glance up at him through her eyelashes. She furrowed her brow. "Fred?"

Fred put a finger up in the air, asking her to wait just a moment. With a few more coughs and a few smacks to his chest, Fred took a deep breath and swallowed the errant food while looking at her with a sheepish smile on his face.

"What did you do?" Felicity asked, raising an eyebrow as she placed her food on the hood of the car and stepped in front of him. She crossed her arms over her chest, resting them on her stomach as she waited for an answer.

Nervously, he carded a hand through his hair and scrubbed it over his face. He took a small step back, adding a little space between the two of them. "I may not have gotten us a place to stay tonight."

"You what!?" Felicity shouted, swinging an arm out and hitting him in the chest. She emphasized each word of her sentence with a smack to his arm. "How. Could. You. Not. Get. Us. A. Place. To. Sleep."

"I'm so sorry, Felicity. I swear I didn't mean to forget," Fred insisted, wrapping a hand around hers and pulling it to his lips, peppering it with kisses. "I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"How?" Felicity asked, pulling her hand away from him and resting it on her hip. "You can't magically make a room reservation appear for us, and I can't exactly spend the night sleeping in the car. It wouldn't be good for the baby."

"I know, I know," Fred replied, hanging his head. "I'm so sorry, Felicity. Maybe when the tow truck gets here, we can ask the driver for some recommendations."

Reminded of the plan that had distracted him from booking a hotel room in the first place, Fred turned to the car and pulled his wand out of his pocket. He wasn't sure where the problem was located, so he just aimed the wand at the car as a whole — "_Reparo_"-Mistake #11.

With a flick of his wrist, both Fred and Felicity heard the car make a few noises. Each of them furrowed their brows and crossed their arms of their chests as they waited for the sound to stop.

The tire had not changed. When the clatter finally ceased, the tire and axle hub fell from the car in a heap. Unfortunately, his little fix was more of a flop and made the problem worse.

With a sigh, she picked up her food and continued to eat, ignoring the dull ache she felt in her pelvis. The pain was probably just from being in the car for so long; it couldn't be anything serious.

"Well, that didn't work," Fred grumbled, still staring at the tire in disbelief.

Felicity inhaled sharply as she felt the pain in her pelvis increase. "Oooph. That hurts."

"What hurts?" Fred asked, rushing to her side and placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"It's nothing," Felicity replied, shrugging her shoulders as she exhaled slowly. "I'm fine."

Fred nodded and returned to his food, but he kept a close eye on Felicity. She continued to eat her dinner but would wince in pain every so often. Concern mounting, Fred was just about to ask her if everything was okay when the tow truck arrived.

"You folks in need of a tow?" the driver asked, climbing down from the truck and making his way over to the couple. He furrowed his brow when he noticed the grimace on Felicity's face. "Are you okay, miss?"

Felicity opened her mouth to reply when she felt a gush of water stream down her leg. "I think my water just broke."

Fred's jaw dropped in a panic, and he completely froze. He watched as the tow truck driver ushered Felicity into his truck and then came back to Fred, hoisting him up on his shoulder and carrying him over to the truck. Gently sliding Felicity over toward the center seat, he placed the panicked Fred beside her, without the hospital bag-Mistake #12.

He felt Felicity reach down and squeeze his hand. Try as he might to squeeze her hand back, Fred was frozen in panic and wasn't sure how to react to the news that he was about to be a father. He could only hope they'd make it to the hospital in time.

. . . . . . . .

Felicity looked down at the gorgeous sleeping baby snuggled up in her arms. The tiniest of fingers were wrapped around her pointer finger as the baby slept. In awe, Felicity donned the biggest smile of her life.

"She's perfect," Fred whispered, kissing the top of Felicity's head as he cupped a gentle hand over the top of the baby's head. "She looks just like her mother."

"Lucky for her," Felicity laughed softly then glanced up at him out of the corner of her eye as she stuck her tongue out.

"She definitely is a lucky girl," he replied, wrapping an arm around Felicity's shoulders. "And look at it this way. At least I got us a room for the night."

Felicity rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You mean, _she_ got us a room for the night."

"Indeed she did," Fred sighed, "despite all my mistakes."


End file.
